Skip to main content
Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

Secretaryof the Navy John D. Long to Commodore George Dewey, Commander, Asiatic Station

From Secretary of Navy.

To COM’D’R-IN-CHIEF

Date April 22, 1898.

Subject North Atlantic

Squadron blockading

Cuba.

War not yet declared

The Naval Force North Atlantic Station is blockading coast Cuba.

War has not yet been declared.

War may be declared at any moment.

Will inform you.

Await orders.1

Source Note: Cy, DLC-MSS, PGD. Document was: “Received Hongkong/April 23, 7 a.m.”

Footnote 1: Orders to attack the Philippines were issued the next day, 24 April, but only after Dewey sent a cable announcing his being ordered to leave Hong Kong by Governor General Wilson Black. See: Dewey to Long, 24 April 1898.

Related Content